Francis Ngannou of Cameroon made a triumphant return to combined martial arts by knocking out Renan Ferreria within the first spherical of their heavyweight conflict within the Skilled Fighters League (PFL) occasion dubbed “Battle of the Giants” within the early hours Sunday morning.
After some sturdy early kicks from each fighters, Ngannou, who had not fought in combined martial arts since January 2022, took the battle to the canvas and finally obtained behind his Brazilian opponent, touchdown a collection of hard-hitting punches to finish the battle. battle with 88 seconds. deserted within the first spherical.
Ngannou, by way of tears, devoted her victory to the reminiscence of her 15-month-old son Kobe, who died in April.
“I solely did this battle for him. “I needed to battle for him… I hope you possibly can keep in mind his identify, as a result of with out Kobe, we wouldn’t be right here tonight,” he mentioned in a post-fight interview within the cage.
The occasion broke from the PFL’s common format of an everyday season and playoffs to host a collection of “tremendous fights” with belts on the road as Ngannou returned to the game the place he made his identify after a foray into the world of boxing.
Ngannou’s rise from baby poverty in Cameroon to the highest of combined martial arts, the place he received the Final Preventing Championship (UFC) heavyweight title in March 2021, made him a massively in style determine and one of the wanted free brokers in fight sports activities. when his contract with the UFC expired.
He then took half in profitable boxing matches in opposition to heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, each of which he misplaced, and his signing was a significant blow to the PFL in its battle to compete with the UFC.